EXTRA - yoga & vegan cooking weekend

For the last time before the summer, the weekend of 1. - 3. July, we held a yoga & vegan cooking weekend, with wonderful participants from Chicago! The lavender fields were in full bloom as was the sunflower field behind La Vudèle, and we enjoyed taking our yoga practice outdoors surrounded by this beautiful scent! During this retreat we explored and created vegan Provencal dishes using the freshest seasonal ingredients, the first tomato of the season, and enjoyed our dinners al fresco under the blue sky of Provence!

 A holistic time, where our participants took care of themselves from the inside, through
* mindful yoga practice
* delicious organic vegan food
* followed their personal yoga & meditation practice
* had time to explore the area
* and time to enjoy an in-depth practice, yoga philosophy, spirituality. The focus was not only on various asanas but on advancing on the path of yoga

goodie bag with apron, cook book, salt, eye mask and yoga tea

Equipped with the Yoga & Nature goodie bag which is filled with
* yoga & nature apron
* yoga & nature cookbook
* yoga & nature herbes de Provence salt
* eye mask
* herbal yoga tea
all presented in a typical Provencal basket
we set off on our vegan cooking journey Saturday afternoon. In the morning we had visited the fantastic farmers' market in Riez to purchase organic fresh produce, from carrots to onions, yellow and green zucchini to the first tomato of the season!

making chocolate tofu mousse

The recipe for this delicious dessert can be found in our yoga & nature cookbook which is also available in our boutique

grilled caviar d'aubergine

tips & tricks from Claudia for Anastasia

chopping away for the "hussimussi"

The menu consisted of
* gratte ail or grated garlic, with our own organic olive oil and fresh baguette

* caviar d'aubergine

* grilled tofu with couscous and vegetable medley

* chocolate mint ice cream (the recipe)

* lavender custard (the recipe )
accompanied by local wine of Quinson and a game of table foosball

It was a lovely experience to be cooking with Tracey and Anastasia who added their own ideas and experiences, and the resulting meal - prepared with love - was simply divine! As we were seated outdoors next to the field of sunflowers the sun was setting, casting a lovely gentle light over the field: a perfect setting!

For our yoga practice early in the morning and in the afternoon we searched and found shade behind La Vudèle, surrounded by sunflowers, vines and of course lavender!

relaxing afternoon Yin yoga practice

final meditation in reclined butterfly pose

Upon their departure Tracey and Anastasia added their personal well-wishes to our line of Tibetan prayer flags, leaving a piece of personal memory at La Vudèle

our guests Tracey & Anastasia

Thank you so much, you two, for having chosen Yoga & Nature in Quinson for your mother/daughter weekend! It was truly a pleasure and honor to meet you two beautiful people and share this time with you! May your onward journey around France this summer be as colorful and delightful. Namasté.

And our next and final date for 2016 will be the third weekend in September:

Friday, 16. - Sunday, 18. September 2016

We already have one confirmed reservation so there are now only 4 spots left! On our web site is more information regarding a tentative schedule, photos, prices or email us 

Hope to see you here

in late summer!

RECIPE - sage pesto, with a twist

Classic pesto is made with fresh basil; this is the variety everybody knows and loves, be it from their vacations in Italy or a visit to their favorite Italian restaurant. But how about trying something new? With the abundance of sage plants in our herb garden, grown from seed and growing in massive bushes, I one late spring afternoon decided to try this wonderful herb in a pesto. Et voilà, it not only tastes almost like basil, it tastes even better! And it tastes best when the leaves are young so in late spring, though it is possible to use the leaves all year round but the taste will become stronger and more pungent.

During our yoga & organic vegan cooking retreat last weekend Top Vegan Chef Paul decided to add some green olives and freshly squeezed lemon juice, and my o my, was this pesto a treat!

Sage is a very versatile plant, a quintessential Mediterranean herb used in cooking, as an essential oil, as a decorative plant in the garden with its pretty purple flowers. Salvia officinalis can  be used to make a delicious tea.

on croutons as an appetizer

Pesto is easy to make, considered a "raw food" as none of the ingredients are heated and can go on anything, from pasta bien sûr to sandwiches or tasty little croutons as appetizers with an apéritif or on pizza in place of or with tomato sauce

the ingredients:
* fresh sage leaves
* nutritional yeast
* toasted pine nuts
* depitted fleshy green olives
* freshly squeezed lemon juice
* garlic
* olive oil
* freshly ground sea salt
* freshly ground black pepper

All ingredients are approximate as this is really to everyone's personal taste. If you can get a hold of this season's fresh garlic use it sparingly and allow the fresh taste of sage to be the most prominent. Make a paste in your kitchen machine and season to taste. The great thing about pesto is that its all about personal preference.

on pizza as a base

Try something new today and remember to enjoy not only the result but also the process! Preparing food from scratch is a fantastic way to spend time, observing the making of something delicious, with one's own creativity, passion and hands!

bon appétit! 

YOGA - extra retreat in June vegan cooking

Top Vegan Chefs

We just finished our first yoga & organic vegan cooking retreat and would like to thank the participants, Paul & Anna who were already here for last year's 6-day retreat, and Justine & Sofiane from Taiwan, for coming here to La Vudèle and sharing their spirit and enthusiasm with us during this weekend!

And for those who would like to attend this summer we have 2 more dates before August: Tuesday, 14.6. - Thursday, 16.4. & Friday, 1. - Sunday, 3. July

retreat goodie bag

Friday afternoon we started out with a welcome workshop, blind-folded with the eye mask of the La Vudèle goodie bag and using the sense of smell only to explore the various beautiful aromas of herbs and flowers like lavender, thyme, sage, and essential oils like orange, rosemary and fennel. Also contained in the goodie bag were
~ the yoga & nature en Provence apron
~ the La Vudèle guest book with recipes, mantras, yoga sequences and various information
~ a post-yoga tea blend
~ a special herbes de Provence salt
~ all presented in a typical Mediterranean straw basket

This was followed by our first afternoon yoga session outdoors, enjoying the beautiful sun, vistas and sounds all around.

Using the freshest ingredients from the market and our favorite organic food store "Nature & Vous" in Manosque we prepared an apéritif dinatoire in the evening, with lots of delicious delicacies like
* caviar d'aubergine
* black olive tapenade
* white bean dip
* our freshly baked sourdough bread
* and a superb quiche, with the recipe to be found in the La Vudèle guest book

Saturday morning we met for an invigoration morning yoga session and a mindfulness meditation, to the rising sun, followed by breakfast in the morning sun. Afterwards we went to the local market in Riez to purchase delicacies for dinner like artichokes, the first courgettes and strawberries. In the afternoon another lovely yoga session outdoors, under the beautiful blue sky of Provence, with a Metta meditation and some challenging asanas!


We then started cooking in our farmhouse kitchen, with everywhere assigned to different tasks: there was a dessert station, a pesto making station, pea shelling of peas fresh from the field, marinating the tofu, and the artichokes also had to be prepared, cleaned and then boiled, to be grilled for dinner.

Sofiane at the grill

Anna, a trained nutritionist

master sage pesto maker

Mia the cat with Justine

lavender custard - yum!

Sofiane and his new toy

The copious gala dinner, with lots of candles, we enjoyed accompanied by local wines of Quinson, thanks to Jim's selection and expertise. The two desserts, a lavender custard and a chocolate mousse, finished off our meal, and we all went to bed feeling accomplished and light-hearted.

Sunday morning started out with another morning yoga session to the rising sun - simply wonderful -  and breakfast with crêpes à la Jim were served at the breakfast table.

the flag ceremony

As a parting gift the participants designed their own flags, to be added to the Tibetan prayer flags fluttering in the wind....

This was a wonderful weekend, thank you so much, you all! 

And for those who would like to attend this summer we have 2 more dates before August:

yoga & organic vegan cooking

Tuesday, 14.6. - Thursday, 16.4.

and another weekend of yoga & fun
Friday, 1. - Sunday, 3. July

On our web site is more information, photos and prices, or simply email us 

Hope to see you here

this summer!

LIFE AT LA VUDELE - thank you

Claudia & Jim with Mia

October has arrived, the season of contemplation is starting, the sun shines less strong and the evenings get colder... This is also the time to reflect. And to pick up projects left aside during the busy season, like this blog which we stopped in early summer but gathered new ideas, recipes and other news which we will share throughout the winter. 

To reflect is to look back at our activities the past few months which started in March. We hosted many people in our organic vegetarian B&B, all lovely guests from allover the world who stayed with us, not only from all over Europe but also from South Korea, Australia, the US and Canada, Puerto Rico and India and many more places - we would like to thank each one of these persons for having spent some time at La Vudèle, for having brought this energy here.

We also again held yoga workshops which we as hosts enjoyed very much, and judging by the feedback and emails we still receive our participants enjoyed their time here as well. This also gave rise and inspiration for a cook book which turned into the idea of offering yoga & organic vegan cooking weekends for 2016!

Claudia & Jim with Mimie
Mia somewhere else ;-)

We would like to thank all of our guests for making this place so special, and we are very much looking forward to welcoming back some of them next year who already booked for June and July, for the famous lavender season! 

A bientôt!

Jim & Claudia

Mimie & Mia

ACTIVITIES - Karma Exchange Saturday, 14. November

Twice a year we organize a "Karma Exchange", essentially a clothing swap which has turned into the idea to extend this exchange of previously loved items to an exchange on several levels. And the 14th of October coincides with this year's Diwali Festival of Lights which we shall celebrate with the launching of happiness balloons into the evening sky

Throughout the afternoon there will be 

- a yoga session, with Claudia and other guest teachers
- talks & discussions
- coffee & tea
- a clothing swap
- live music / dancing / singing
- a guided meditation
- a shared dinner

Starting with a yoga session around 14h in the yoga shala we will ease into the afternoon and go with the flow, depending on who shows up and wants to share, be it a skill, knowledge, wisdom or simply presence: everybody is welcome to join. Basically La Vudèle will be the canvas on which we paint.

In the evening we will gather around the dinner table in our farmhouse kitchen, by a wood fired stove, where everyone can present their vegetarian or vegan contribution, a potluck or repas espanol.

date: Saturday, 14. November 2015
place: La Vudèle, Quinson

This is for locals who would like to reconnect after the summer, for visitors who want to have a local experience, for long-lost friends, passersby, everybody is welcome!

Come & join!

YOGA - 6-day yoga retreat: LAVENDER in bloom

For 2015 we not only offer the usual weekend retreats in May and September but also a 6-day/5-night yoga week in June! We chose this date to offer our yoginis the unique opportunity to experience the fantastic sight and scent of lavender in bloom, usually from the middle of June until the end of July

Join us for this June yoga retreat as this is the best time to visit Provence: the famous lavender fields are in bloom! We will take our yoga practice to the lavender fields and enjoy the scent and color of this wonderful flower.

Discover the key elements of Hatha yoga with elements of Iyengar yoga, enriched by meditation and relaxation, adapted to all levels. The program offers a holistic time where you cantake care of yourself from the inside through yoga practice, delicious organic vegetarian food, meditation, and free time to explore and relax.